Contracts

Heads up if you're a fan of Verizon Wireless's shorter, one-year contract: the company confirmed today that it would be eliminating the one-year contract agreement beginning April 17.

Verizon is one of the last remaining wireless carriers to offer the single-year contract, but it says that due to device subsidies, more customers sign up for a two-year contract to get a lower, up-front cost on their phones of choice. Verizon will still offer month-to-month and prepaid options, and if you're toward the end of your one-year contract now then you can renew before the deadline to ensure you won't be attached to Verizon until 2013.

Uncle Sam may soon be regulating your relationship with your nanny! In a bill that was passed this week, New York will be the first state that requires employers to guarantee paid days off, overtime wages and 14 days termination notice for all domestic workers. California and Colorado are also working on similar legislation. Eight-five percent of LilSugar readers said that parents should have a written contract with their nanny outlining such details before the relationship ever begins, but 53 percent don't pay their caregivers' taxes. Should the government be regulating terms of employment for childcare givers?

Sign on the dotted line please. We sign contracts for our homes, our jobs, and even for our child care providers, but will signing one with our children help keep them in line?

Some parents use parent/child contracts to keep the communication path more open, while others see it as a way to keep order in their household. The contract can serve as a visible way to ensure that kids are aware of the house rules and the consequences of disobeying them. They also help children understand what their parents' roles are in helping them achieve their goals.

For families looking to put things in writing, this pad of contracts ($10) will help get the process started with 30 fill-in-the-blank sheets that outline the terms of the agreement and penalties for breaking them.

What's your opinion of drafting contracts with your kids?